"What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" - Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead

[djspeece]

At my recent appointment, the final score was 0-0. I didn't venture to ask about how we were doing, and my ortho volunteered nothing. It felt like being in a grade school staring contest. Somehow, the tie felt liked I'd lost.

Oh, no news is good news. That's how my appointments went as well. I even got a little more morbid than usual, thinking "So if I die before these things come off, will the funeral director have to remove them, or call in the ortho, or do they just keep my mouth shut?" I imagined that in a thousand years my fancy-dancy tintanium nickle braces will be sitting there, shining in the dust that was once Dan.

[SinkFullOfDinner]

It’s been a few months….

So, the elastics have been doing a pretty good job! The primary downside is the period of time when things move in just the right (wrong?) way and you wind up with only one point of contact for awhile. It makes molar buildups and their resulting two points of contact seem luxurious. The upside is that you have lots of extra time to think while you are one-point-of-contacting your way through your meal. Pasta, for example, brings back images from Greek mythology. I feel like I’m battling the Hydra whenever I have fettuccine, spaghetti, or bucatini. When I finally get a strand lined up with that one point of contact and pounce, all I’ve accomplished is creating two strands of pasta that are still too long. Then repeat. And repeat...

[Carno]

Hah, I know exactly what you mean. Any improvements?

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Yeah, the joint pain has improved a lot! Still there, but not as severe and doesn't last as long. But let me repeat: big improvement! I'd been starting to wonder if this was actually going to work and be worth it, but this latest step forward has me back in the encouraged category . The only current downside is my bite feels crazy-out-of-wack. However -- and I'm only half kidding here -- the improvement with the TM joint has caused me to occasionally think "maybe we should just stop here...I'll take the stupid-feeling bite alignment with only a couple points of contact in exchange for half improvement in joint pain." The fact that I can joke about it even a little now says a lot.

On a lighter note, the kid who had the preceding appointment at my station must have had cotton candy for breakfast because the glasses they handed me had a gazillion fingerprints on them. It felt like a crime scene photo of print dusting was being projected onto the ceiling when the chair went back and I looked up. I definitely had to swap those out.

[djspeece]

Glad to hear that you are making progress! Congratulations.

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Geez, I try to remember to grab my little squeeze bottle of hand sanitizer during this “wash your hands constantly and don’t touch your face” coronavirus situation. But I forget — a lot — and it’s putting a serious dent in being able to pop out elastics right before a meeting or to replace them as quickly or frequently. Maybe the amount of “had to leave them in” time is making up for the “they didn’t go back in right away” time. I imagine it’s a bigger issue for the Invisalign community. Gotta love this process. lol

[twedledee]

Geez, I try to remember to grab my little squeeze bottle of hand sanitizer during this “wash your hands constantly and don’t touch your face” coronavirus situation. But I forget — a lot — and it’s putting a serious dent in being able to pop out elastics right before a meeting or to replace them as quickly or frequently. Maybe the amount of “had to leave them in” time is making up for the “they didn’t go back in right away” time. I imagine it’s a bigger issue for the Invisalign community. Gotta love this process. lol

About coronavirus situation, I'm in lockdown in Italy, and my debrace-day is April 2...isn't it ironic? I think I'm going to enjoy braces a little bit longer
stay safe @SinkFullOfDinner and everyone else out there, hands clean always

[SinkFullOfDinner]

I'm in lockdown in Italy, and my debrace-day is April 2...isn't it ironic? I think I'm going to enjoy braces a little bit longer

smh, as if you needed one more thing to add to your long list of things affected by your lockdown. Obviously, protecting everyone is most important, but I hadn't even thought about ortho offices postponing appointments more generally. I imagine you won't be only one adding a bit of time due to an appointment or two being delayed. Good luck, be well, and hopefully you can get back in soon for debonding! In the meantime, we're all thinking of you in Italy and so sorry for the toll it's taken...especially in the north.

- Sink

[twedledee]

Thanks Sink for your thoughts. Orthos and dentists in general should take appointments just for urgent cases, and fortunately I'm fine let's see how it goes. It is just another simple aspect of our lives being affected by this emergency, I will smile with my new teeth when it'll be all over
Wherever you live, please just be careful, stay home and do whatever is needed
"Andrà tutto bene"

[bbsadmin]

twedledee, where are you in Italy? What is it like for you being an orthodontic patient there while the country is on lockdown?

My husband and I were in Venice and Padua in early February (part of a larger European trip we took to other countries). We got home Feb. 10th. As you know, there wasn't a word about the virus being in Europe at that point; it was only in parts of Asia. Fortunately, neither of us got sick. I feel so lucky!

[twedledee]

twedledee, where are you in Italy? What is it like for you being an orthodontic patient there while the country is on lockdown?

My husband and I were in Venice and Padua in early February (part of a larger European trip we took to other countries). We got home Feb. 10th. As you know, there wasn't a word about the virus being in Europe at that point; it was only in parts of Asia. Fortunately, neither of us got sick. I feel so lucky!

Good for you! It must have been a huge relief.
I live in Tuscany, in the center-north of Italy.
My last appointment was on February 21, and my ortho gave me the good news: debrace day on April 2! I was so happy, like a child.
Since then everything has changed, all the country is on lockdown, and it is just surreal...it's like living in a limbo. I'm working from home and that keeps my mind occupied, otherwise I would think of my family all the time (they are in the south and also in the north of the country).
I'm going to call my ortho and hear what are her suggestions (I'm still wearing elastics at night), I'm lucky that I'm at the very end of my treatment.
It's so strange how everything can change in a couple of days, debracing was my first desire above all during the last months, now I'm barely thinking about it
Be careful, do not underestimate this situation, stay at home if they told you so, protect yourselves and everyone else.

[SinkFullOfDinner]

And the cancellations begin...

I just received a form email from my ortho office that they're suspending all appointments until further notice. Other than saying they would follow up to reschedule cancelled appointments, there was no time frame for the closure (because there's no way for them to know, other than guessing). It's the old "don't call us, we'll call you."

I suspect a bunch of these emails will be hitting our collective inboxes.

twedledee, you might need to change your name to twiddleMyThumbs depending on the wait time.

[twedledee]

I'm so sorry to hear that Sink, we have to be extra patient. I think that when it will be all over, we'll enjoy everything more, debracing too

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Definitely not a big deal. Delayed routine appts < delayed debonding appt < everything else going on. HOWEVER, these ligatures are definitely not going to make it 12 weeks!! I will absolutely, positively be DIY-changing those!!! The only question is when, and how often!

The considerations are:
Working from home means fewer interactions to worry about gross ligs
...but, daily videoconfences eliminate the ability to hide completely
built-in camera on my laptop is damn good. Never thought I'd complain about that. I might have to mess with the lighting!
No need to worry about food in your grill during lunches with colleagues or other professionals
Still need to check in the mirror before those video conferences. Did I already mention 4K cameras suck at the moment.
If I run out of ligatures, I might need to decide between enduring the old ones or seeing if I can wrap one of my wife's scrunchies enough times around a bracket to make it hold. So many people on AW have claimed that no one notices your braces (fyi, I call BS on that!), but the scrunchy will be the ultimate test.

[quickredfox]

Haha, I hear you on the pro's & cons there. So far it's just me, the grocery store employees and a few walking buddies having to deal with my ever yellowing powerchain (at a distance of course).. But next week my classes restart via an online platform, webcam included